For the third paper of the quarter, we will dive into a new kind of humanities writing, specifically literary analysis. Literary analysis can consider a variety of different aspects of a text—character, dialogue, imagery, plot, style, symbol, theme, and tone—but this assignment will ask you to consider how literary works can analyze, represent, and reflect on political and social issues specifically. In the case of Uncanny Valley, Wiener uses the genre of the literary memoir to consider the culture of the tech industry and 21st century conditions of work. While the text is non-fiction, Uncanny is nevertheless a literary work and, as such, uses the tools of literature to analyze the technology industry.
Your task in this assignment will be to analyze Uncanny Valley for how it represents and explores the tech industry and the scene. In other words, what is Wiener’s critique of the technology industry? How does the represent the conditions, the effects, and/or the logic of the contemporary world of work? Consider of the following questions as you draft your analysis:
How does the use of character/characterization function in the text?
How does dialogue provide insight into the culture of the tech industry?
How does imagery function in the text?
What do the representations of plot suggest about Silicon Valley?
How does the author’s style function in the text?
What symbols are present in the text and how do they function?
What are the central themes (or arguments) of the text?
How does Wiener’s tone function in the book?
The paper should have a standard three-part structure: introduction, body, and conclusion.
In the introduction, introduce Uncanny Valley and contextualize within the broader scene of contemporary technology. What I would like you to do here is to inform your reader about the political, social, and/or economic context or scene that the book comments on. I’m wanting to see at least two sources cited in this paragraph. After this, introduce Uncanny Valley and clarify its general focus or critique. Don’t just focus on what the book is about—what does it do? The paragraph should conclude with a strong thesis statement that argues how the takes makes its intervention. In other words, how which literary terms does the text use to make its statement? How does Wiener employ them? This thesis would be most effective if it were to mention the specific literary terms (in bold above) that will be employed in the text.
The body paragraphs should begin with a strong topic sentence that makes a claim about the text in relation to one or more literary terms. The paragraph itself should use the literary terms to analyze two or more quotes from the text. Each example/quote should be discussed in detail and should be clearly related to your thesis. Each paragraph should clearly support the thesis.
A conclusion should reflect on the significance of your analysis and/or consider the significance/value/consequence of Wiener’s text. Don’t just summarize your argument or walk back through the plot of the book. Rather, this is an opportunity to reflect more broadly.
